Presses for attaching metal fittings to material



H. H. wooo 2,755,472

PRESSES FOR ATTACHING METAL FITTINGS TO MATERIAL July 24, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 20, 1955 Inventor .W////////Al|| A ttorneyJ H. H. WOOD July 24, 1956 PRESSEIS FOR ATTACHING METAL FITTINGS T0 MATERIAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 20, 1955 lm entor #5 556 flaw/M11000 ywfaa/a A ltorney;

PRESES FGR ATTA'JHING METAL FITTINGS TO MATERIAL Herbert Howard Wood, Birmingham, England, assignor to Thomas Walker Limited, Birmingham, England, a British company Appiication .luiy 20, 1953, Serial No. 369,186

Claims priority, application Great Britain January 12, 1953 8 Claims. (Cl. 1-4) This invention relates to presses for attaching metal fittings or other metal parts to material by the swedging or clenching over of prongs that pass through the material from one side and are swedged or clenched on the other side. The invention has especial reference to the attachment of staples to a piece of material by means of upstanding pron s thereon which are caused to pass through holes in a back-plate while the latter rests upon an anvil or bed with the material lying over it, the staple being carried by a movable member of a press and thereby brought down on to the material and on to the backplate, so that the prongs penetrate the same and cooperate with recesses in the anvil in order to be swedged or clenched on to the under face of the said back-plate. The prong-carrying part could, however, be a back-plate for attaching an apertured member to the material.

An object of the present invention is to facilitate the loading of the prong-carrying parts in the movable member of the press.

According to the invention, a press for attaching staples and like pronged parts to material comprises a bed or base having an anvil, a carrier member movable towards and away from the anvil, a head pivoted upon said carrier member and having means for receiving and holding a staple or the like, and a plunger guided in the pivoted head for co-operation with and driving of the staple or the like, the said head normally taking a position, when the carrier member is raised, such that the holding and receiving means is presented forwardly for loading, and means being provided for automatically turning the head, when the carrier member is depressed, so that the said holding and receiving means is presented downwardly to wards the anvil.

The movable member may consist of a carrier lever mounted on the bed or base. A second or pressure lever may be employed for acting upon the plunger when the head has been turned and lowered on to the anvil. The pressure lever may operate the carrier lever through the medium of a spring which is compressed when the head meets the anvil, to allow of the pressure lever acting on the plunger; the two levers normally being maintained separated by an extent which will allow of the head being turned, before it reaches the anvil so as to bring the plunger beneath the pressure lever.

The head may be maintained against a stop surface on the carrier member in both of its positions by means of a spring, said spring acting upon the head respectively at opposite sides of its turning centre, according to whether the head is in one or other of its said two positions.

The pivoted head is adapted to co-operate with a stationary part, as it is lowered, in order to be turned into its operative position with the staple or the like presented downwards. The head may carry two spaced-apart curved cam members normally depending from the lower side when the head is raised and co-operating with a stationary arm when the head is lowered and raised, one cam member engaging said arm as the head is lowered, in order to turn the head in one direction, and the other 2,755,472 Patented July 24,- 1956 cam member engaging with the arm, when the head is raised, in order to turn the head in the other direction.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a side elevation of a staple-fixing machine in accordance with the present invention, the levers being in their raised inoperative positions.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the machine.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the machine as seen from the opposite side to that of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a vertical section on a larger scale, of a portion of the machine, showing by full lines the rotary staple-carrying head of the machine when in the position shown in Figure 3. This view shows, by broken lines, an intermediate position taken by the head before it is fully lowered.

Figure 5 is a similar sectional view, but shows the head fully lowered on to the anvil but before the plunger is depressed to act on the staple.

Figure 6 is a sectional view through the lower portion of the head after the plunger has been actuated to act upon and drive the staple.

Figure 7 is a horizontalsection through the head on line VHVH, Figure 3.

Figure 8 is a horizontal section on line VIII-VIII, Figure 3, showing the anvil in plan.

Figure 9 is a cross-section through the carrier arm and the fixed abutment arm that turns the head, looking in a forward direction to show the shape of the end of said abutment arm and how it co-operates with a cam member on the head if the latter is in its incorrect position during its descent.

Figure 10 shows, in perspective, the staple and backiate with which the machine may be used.

Referring to the drawings, which show a convenient embodiment of the invention in connection with a press intended for attaching a staple to a trousers waistband for cooperation with a hook, the staple 1 to be attached is shown in Figure 10 and consists of a straight bar having prongs 2 at opposite ends. This staple is attached to the waistband by passing the prongs through the material of the waistband and through slots or apertures 3 in a back-plate 4-, also shown in Figure 10, and then bending them over, by a swedging or clenching operation, on to the rear face of said back-plate.

The press for attaching the staple in the abovedescribed manner comprises, according to the invention, a horizontal bed or base 5 adapted to be bolted upon a work-bench and having fitted in its top surface a steel anvil 5 formed in its upper face with two rounded swedging depressions '7 spaced apart corresponding to the spacing of the prongs on the staple.

The rear end of the bed or base 5 supports two spacedapart upstanding bracket lugs 8 between which is pivoted at 9 one end of a carrier lever it). Upon one side face of the outer end of this lever 19 a carrier head 11 is pivoted at 12 for angular movement in a vertical plane parallel to the plane of the lever. This carrier head 11 is of a substantially square or rectangular shape in side elevation and it is mounted in a shouldered rebate 13 Figure 7) in the face of the carrier lever, so that one edge can engage against the shoulder of the rebate, which serves as a stop surface. The carrier head is normally maintained in this position against the stop shoulder by means of a tension spring 14 extending above the pivot 12 and connected between the head and the lever 10.

A substantially rectangular-sectioned passage 15 extends through the pivoted carrier head 11, namely, in a direction from front to back when the head is in the normal position against the stop surface, as indicated above; and within this passage 13 is mounted a correspondingly-sectioned plunger 16 which can slide freely in the passage, being guided by the walls thereof and being slotted at 17 to clear the pivot pin 12. This plunger is normally held in a retracted position by a V-shaped loop-coil spring 18 the arms of which bear respectively upon a pin 19 on the outer end of the plunger and upon the rear end of the head. When the plunger is in this retracted position the forward end of the passage 15 in which it moves is unoccupied by the plunger, thus forming a loading recess 20 in which a staple 1 may be inserted by hand with its prongs directed outwards as indicated in Figure 4, the shape and dimensions of the passage corresponding to the shape and dimensions of the staple, so that the latter can be frictionally held in place. The sides of the loading recess may be gapped at the outer end to facilitate insertion of a staple by the fingers. A plunger 21 slidable in a hole in the head and acted upon by a spring 22 may press on the staple to hold it in position in the event of the staple being slightly undersized.

Pivoted upon the same axis as the carrier lever 10, but at one side of the latter is a second or pressure lever 23 the outer end of which is normally located above and in the same plane as the pivoted carrier head 11. It is connected at a point between its ends to a vertical rod 24 that passes through a slot 25 in the press bed, its lower end being connected to a pedal, (not shown), so that foot pressure on this pedal will cause the pressurelever 23 to be turned down towards the anvil.

A spring 26 is fitted between the carrier lever It} and the pressure lever 23, so as to tend to keep the levers separated. This spring may consist of a blade spring fixed at one end, at 27, to the carrier lever and having its free end pressing upwards upon a pin 28 projecting from the side of the pressure lever 23. A stop pin 29 on the pressure lever limits the amount of separation of the levers. The outer or rear end of the said pressure lever 23 is of convex arcuate form, and at a suitable point thereon one end of a coiled tension spring 31 is connected, the other end being anchored to the press bed at 31. This tension spring 30 tends normally to hold the two levers 10, 23, in an oblique raised position, with a stop pin 32 (Figure 3) on the pressure lever engaged with one of the bracket lugs 8 of the bed. When the pressure lever 23 moves down by the operation of the pedal, the carrier lever is moved with it through the medium of the interposed spring 26; although both levers remain separated until the carrier head approaches the mvil, as hereinafter described.

In order to turn the carrier head 11 into a position in which the staple therein is opposed to the anvil. the said carrier head is provided upon its underside with two depending and rearwardly-curved spur-like cam members, 33, 34, conveniently made of stout rigid wire and situated one near the rear end and the other near the front end of the head. These cam members ecu-operate, during the angular movement of the lever, with the outer end of a forwardly-extending curved horizontal arm 35 fixed at its rear end to one of the bracket lugs 8 on the press bed. The said forward end of this fixed arm is bent laterally, as shown at 36 in Figure 8, at right-angles to lie in the path of the rearward cam member 33. As the carrier lever 10 descends, the convex side of the said rearward cam member 33 engages the bent end 36 of the fixed arm 35 and by the co-operation of the two parts the carrier head 11 is caused to turn forwardly away from its stop surface at 13 until the lower edge of the head, at a point rearwards of the pivot, engages the said fixed arm, as shown by broken lines in Figure 4. when continued downward movement of the lever 10 will cause the head to turn through an angle of 90 from its original position relatively to the lever, with the staple 1 presented downwardly and with the end of the plunger 16 presented upwardly, as shown in Figure 5. In this position the head is arrested by engaging the stop surface of the rebate 13 in the lever, and its controlling spring 14 has, during the angular movement, been moved into a line situated below the pivot, as shown in Figure 5, so that it now holds the head in its new position. Also, when the head has reached this new position, the forward cam member 34 on the head will extend rearwardly beneath the end 36 of the fixed arm 35. When, therefore, the carrier lever 10 is raised the said cam 34 will cooperate With the arm 35 to return the head to its normal position with a quick snap action.

The laterally-bent end 36 of the fixed arm 35 has an inclined outer edge 37, as clearly shown in Figure 9, the said end being narrower at the top than at the bottom, so that if, before the carrier lever 10 is depressed, the carrier head 11 has inadvertently been turned into its second position, with the staple presented downwards, the lower (or normally forward) cam member 34 will, when the lever is lowered, engage and ride over the inclined edge 37 and will snap beneath the end 36 of the arm ready to be operated by the arm, when the lever rises, in order to turn the head into its normal position. To facilitate this action the fixed arm 35 is made resilient, so that it can spring laterally.

In order to locate, on the anvil 6, the back-plate 4 by which the staple is secured to the waistband and also to locate the waistband itself, there is fixed to the rear portion of the press bed 5 a forwardly-extending flexible spring plate 38 the front end of which is pressed down on to the anvil and has in it a rectangular opening 39 overlying an elongated aperture 40 in a plate 41 fixed on the bed over the anvil. This aperture 40 is of a shape approximating to the contour of the back-plate 4, and is located symmetrically with respect to the swedging depressions 7 in the anvil. The opening 39 receives and locates a projecting end portion of the head 11, as shown in Figures 5 and 6. The back-plate 4 is adapted to be inserted through the opening 39 and into the aperture 40 so that the prong-receiving openings 3 therein are directly located over the depressions 7. Also, the waistband, shown at 42 in Figure 6, is adapted to be passed under and held down by the spring plate 38 so that it lies over the back-plate 4 with a chalk mark thereon (indicating the position for attachment of the staple) located centrally in the opening 39.

When the back-plate 4 has been placed in the locating aperture 40 and covered by the waistband as above described, a staple is placed in the forwardly-presented loading recess 20 in the carrier head 11 and the pressure lever 23 is operated by the pedal so as to lower the carrier lever 18 with it. When the rear cam member 33 on the head engages the fixed arm 35, the head is turned through so that the staple is presented downwards and the end of the plunger 16 upwards. Continued downward movement of the levers brings the carrier head 11 down on to the anvil, as in Figure 5, the carrier lever 10 being thus arrested. The pressure lever 23 then continues to move relatively to the carrier lever by compressing the spring 26 between the two levers, and the outer end of said pressure lever now comes into contact with the end of the plunger 16, as shown in Figure 5, and depresses the latter, thereby acting on the staple 1 and causing its prongs 2 to be forced through the waistband and through the openings 3 in the back-plate 4 so that the ends of the prongs enter the swedging recesses 7 in the anvil, being thereby swedged or clenched on to the under face of the back-plate. When the pedal is released, the rear tension spring 30 raises the levers to their initial oblique positions, the carrier head being turned through 90 by the action of the cam member 34 and arm 35 as hereinbefore described.

The machine could be adapted for use with other pronged members than staples, such as the pronged backplates used for attaching waistband hooks which cooperate with the staples. In this case, the loading recess 20 in the carrier head would be designed to receive the pronged back-plates, and the anvil would have provision for locating the apertured hook members through which the prongs are to be passed.

Instead of the lever being operated from lever 23 through the medium of spring 26, the two levers may be independently operated, the lever 10 first being brought down on to the anvil with the head 11 turned into the position in Figure 5, and then the lever 23 being operated to act on the plunger.

Also, the lever 23 could be dispensed with, the lever 10 being operated by a pedal or other means. The plunger 16, when turned into a vertical position, could be operated by a mallet to drive and clench the staple.

I claim:

1. In a press for attaching staples and like pronged parts to material, a base, an anvil carried by said base, a carrier member, means carried by said base and movably supporting said carrier member for movement toward and away from said base, a head comprising means receiving and holding a staple; means carried by said carrier member and pivotally supporting said head, resilient means connected with said head and said carrier member for maintaining said head in a loading position in which said staple receiving and holding means is located forwardly, said resilient means being operable when the carrier member is raised, said head having a recess formed therein and extending to the staple receiving and holding means, a plunger located in said recess and movable therein for driving a staple, a cam member carried by said head, and an arm located in the path of said cam member when said carrier member is moved toward said base to engage said cam member and turn said head to a position in which said staple receiving and holding means is located downwardly toward said anvil.

2. In a press for attaching staples and like pronged parts to material, a base, an anvil carried by said base, a carrier member, means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said carrier member adjacent one end thereof for swinging movement toward and away from said base, a head having a recess formed therein for receiving and holding a staple, means carried by said carrier memher and pivotally supported said head at the free end of said carrier member, resilient means connected with said head and said carrier member for maintaining said head in a loading position in which said recess is located forwardly, said resilient means being operable when the carrier member is raised, said head having a recess formed therein and extending to the first-mentioned recess, a plunger located in the second-mentioned recess and movable therein for driving a staple located in the firstmentioned recess, a cam member carried by said head, and an arm located in the path of said cam member when said carrier member is moved toward said base to engage said cam member and turn said head to a position in which the first-mentioned recess is presented downwardly toward said anvil.

3. In a press for attaching staples and like pronged parts to material, a base, an anvil carried by said base, a carrier member, means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said carrier member adjacent one end thereof for swinging movement toward and away from said base, a head comprising means receiving and holding a staple; means carried by said carrier member and pivotally supporting said head, resilient means connected with said head and said carrier member for maintaining said head in a loading position in which said staple receiving and holding means is located forwardly, said resilient means being operable when the carrier member is raised, said head having a recess formed therein and extending to the staple receiving and holding means, a plunger located in said recess and movable therein for driving a staple, a cam member carried by said head, an arm located in the path of said cam member when said carrier member is moved toward said base to engage said cam member and turn said head to a position in which said staple receiving and holding means is located downwardly toward said anvil a pressure lever, and means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said pressure 6 lever for swinging movement toward and away from said base, said pressure lever having a portion engaging said plunger when said staple receiving and holding means is located downwardly toward said anvil and actuating said plunger when the pressure lever is swung toward said base.

4. In a press for attaching staples and like pronged parts to material, a base, an anvil carried by said base, a carrier member, means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said carrier member adjacent one end thereof for swinging movement toward and away from said base, a head comprising means receiving and holding a staple; means carried by said carrier member and pivotally supporting said head, resilient means connected with said head and said carrier member for maintaining said head in a loading position in which said staple receiving and holding means is located forwardly, said resilient means being operable when the carrier member is raised, said head having a recess formed therein and extending to the staple receiving and holding means, a plunger located in said recess and movable therein for driving a staple, a cam member carried by said head, an arm located in the path of said cam member when said carrier member is moved toward said base to engage said cam member and turn said head to a position in which said staple receiving and holding means is located downwardly toward said anvil a pressure lever, means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said pressure lever for swinging movement toward and away from said base, said pressure lever having a portion engaging said plunger when said staple receiving and holding means is located downwardly toward said anvil, and a spring connected with said carrier member and said pressure lever and normally separating said pressure lever from said carrier member, said spring being compressed when said pressure lever actuates said plunger.

5. in a press for attaching staples and like pronged parts to material, a base, an anvil carried by said base, a carrier member, means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said carrier member adjacent one end thereof for swinging movement toward and away from said base, a head comprising means receiving and holding a staple; means carried by said carrier member and pivotally supporting said head, said carrier member having stop surfaces engaging said head in two positions, said staple receiving and holding means being located forwardly in one of said positions and being located downwardly toward said anvil in the other one of said positions, said head being turnable from any one of said positions to the other position, a spring connected with said head and said carrier member and extending on any one side of the turning center of the head to maintain said head in engagement with one of said stop surfaces in any one of said two positions, said head having a recess formed therein and extending to the staple receiving and holding means, a plunger located in said recess and movable therein for driving a staple, a cam member carried by said head, and an arm located in the path of said cam member when said carrier member is moved toward said base to engage said cam member and turn said head from said forward position to said downward position a pressure lever, and means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said pressure lever for swinging movement toward and away from said base, said pressure lever having a portion engaging said plunger when said staple receiving and holding means is located downwardly toward said anvil and actuating said plunger when the pressure lever is swung toward said base.

6. In a press for attaching staples and like pronged parts to material, a base, an anvil carried by said base, a carrier member, means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said carrier member adjacent one end thereof for swinging movement toward and away from said base, a head having a recess formed therein for receiving and holding a staple, means carried by said carrier member and pivotally supporting said head, said carrier member having stop surfaces engaging said head in two positions, said recess being located forwardly in one of said positions and being located downwardly toward said anvil in the other one of said positions, said head being turnable from any one of said positions to the other position, resilient means connected with said head and said carrier member for maintaining said head in said forward position, said head having therein for driving a staple, a cam member the first-mentioned recess, a plunger located in the second-mentioned recess and movable therein for driving a staple located in the first-mentioned recess, a cam member carried by said head, a stationary arm located in the path of said cam member when said carrier member is moved toward said base to engage said cam member and turn, said head to said downward position, a pressure lever, and means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said pressure lever for swinging movement toward and away from said base, said pressure lever having a portion engaging said plunger when said head is in the downward position.

7. In a press for attaching staples and like pronged parts to material, a base, an anvil carried by said base, a carrier member, means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said carrier member adjacent one end thereof for swinging movement toward and away from said base, a head having a recess formed therein for receiving and holding a staple, means carried by said carrier member and pivotally supporting said head, said carrier member having stop surfaces engaging said head in two positions, said recess being located forwardly in one of said positions and being located downwardly toward said anvil in the other one of said positions, said head being turnable from any one of said positions to the other position, a spring connected with said head and said carrier member for maintaining said head in said forward position, said head having a recess formed therein and extending to the first-mentioned recess, a plunger located in the second-mentioned recess and movable therein for driving a staple located in the first-mentioned recess, two spaced curvedcam members carried by said head and normally depending from the lower side thereof when the head is raised, a stationary arm located in the path of one of said cam members when said carrier member is moved toward said base to engage said one cam member and turn said head from said forward position to said downward position, said arm being located in the path of the other one of said cam members when said carrier member is moved away from said base to engage said other cam member and turn said head from said downward position to said forward position, a pressure lever, and means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said pressure lever for swinging movement toward and away from said base, said pressure lever having a portion engaging said plunger when said head is in the downward position.

8. In a press for attaching staples and like pronged parts to material, a base, an anvil carried by said base, a carrier member, means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said carrier member adjacent one end thereof for swinging movement toward and away from said base, a head comprising means receiving and holding a staple; means carried by said carrier member and pivotally supporting said head, said carrier member having stop surfaces engaging said head in two positions, said staple receiving and holding means being located forwardly in one of said positions and being located downwardly toward said anvil in the other one of said positions, said head being turnable from any one of said positions to the other position, a spring connected to said head to maintain said head in engagement with one of said stop surfaces in any one of said two positions, said head having a recess formed therein and extending to the staple receiving and holding means, a plunger located in said recess. and movable therein for driving a staple, two spaced curved cam members carried by said head and normally depending from the lower side thereof when the head is raised, a stationary resilient arm located in the path of one of said cam members when said carrier member is moved toward said base to engage said one cam member and turn said head from said forward position to said downward position, said arm being located in the path of the other one of said cam members when said carrier member is moved away from said base to engage said other cam member and turn said head from said downward position to said forward position, said arm having an inturned outer end comprising an inclined edge, said edge being located in relation to said head so that if the head is initially in its incorrect position one of said cam members will engage and ride past said inclined edge, a pressure lever, and means carried by said base and pivotally supporting said pressure lever for swinging movement toward and away from said base, said pressure lever having a portion engaging said plunger when said head is in the downward position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

